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Virat Kohli's 2016 or Abhishek Sharma's 2025: Which India star had a more impactful year

Abhinav Tyagi

Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma for India - (Source: AFP)Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma for India - (Source: AFP)

On Friday, December 19, India played their final T20I of 2025. It has been an incredible year for the Men in Blue as they won four series and added an Asia Cup silverware to their trophy cabinet. 

India's star batter Abhishek Sharma was the find of the year as the 25-year-old ended year as India's top-scorer in 2025. The southpaw scored 1602 runs in T20s in 40 innings. Notably, Sharma fell short of just 13 runs to shatter Virat Kohli's record for most runs in a calendar year. 

Virat Kohli had a remarkable 2016, where he scripted a record by slamming 1614 runs in just 29 innings. Meanwhile, this article will compare the two years, Abhishek Sharma's 2025 and Virat Kohli's 2016.

Virat Kohli's 2016 vs Abhishek Sharma's 2025 - Decoding the stats

Criteria
Virat Kohli
Abhishek Sharma
Innings2940
Runs16141602
Average89.6641.07
Strike-rate147.12202.01
100/504/143/9
  • Virat Kohli's 2016 was extraordinary as the former India captain averaged whopping 89.66 in 2016, more than double of what Abhishek Sharma averages in 2025. 
  • Abhishek, on the other hand, had a different role and adhered to it perfectly. He batted at a strike-rate of 202, which meant he utilised the powerplay well. On the other hand, Virat's priority was consistency and yet managed to score at a high rate of 147. Meanwhile, Sharma's primary role was quick-hitting and he managed to bat at a consistency of 41.07.
  • Irrespective of the different role, Virat's 2016 was on a different level, superior to Sharma's 2025, which cannot be undermined at any cost. 
  • Although, interestingly, Sharma has a better conversion rate than Virat Kohli. Sharma has a conversion rate of 25, whereas Virat managed a conversion of 22.2%.

Virat Kohli's 2016 vs Abhishek Sharma's 2025 - Decoding home vs away stats

Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma's home stats

Criteria
Virat Kohli
Abhishek Sharma
Innings14
10
Runs870
476
Average87.0047.60
Strike-rate162.31213.45
100/503/72/1
  • Both the players absolutely dominated at home and performed their above-mentioned role extremely well. Virat's average was around 87 and interestingly, his strike-rate increase at home as he was scoring at a rate of 162.31, which is quite opposite to his anchor image. 
  • Meanwhile, Abhishek Sharma averaged 47.60 at home and his strike-rate too went up to 213. Interestingly, he has two centuries at home and a solitary fifty.

Virat Kohli and Abhishek Sharma's away stats

Criteria
Virat Kohli
Abhishek Sharma
Innings15
23
Runs744
877
Average93.0039.86
Strike-rate132.62195.32
100/501/71/6

Virat Kohli's numbers are just getting better and better as the right-handed batter averaged 93.00. The white-ball talisman scored 744 runs in 15 innings, which featured a century and seven fifty-plus scores.

Abhishek, on the other hand, had a great 2025 away from home, but nothing like what Virat Kohli played. Sharma only averaged 39.86.

Virat Kohli vs Abhishek Sharma: Who had a more impactful year?

Both the players had remarkable year, but Virat Kohli's 2016 performance clearly overshadows Abhishek Sharma's 2025 season. Virat scored both at home and away and in fact had better stats away from home.

Abhishek's performance helped India win the Asia Cup 2025, whereas Virat's performance helped India get close to 2016 World Cup title, where the Men in Blue exited during semi-finals. Also, Kohli led RCB to the finals of IPL 2016, but couldn't cross the final hurdle.